Did you have a piano in your house while growing up?

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
The piano was the first home entertainment center until the phonograph and the radio came along. Many companies existed during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, many went out of business when the radio came along. The biggest was Steinway and had stored so much wood that they started making coffins with the extra wood...
 

We always had a piano while I was growing up. My grandmother had perfect pitch and would play hymns, always on the black keys. This meant everything was in the minor key, very haunting. She could play the saw also. I have her piano.
 
Mum wanted me to learn the piano and bought a parlour semi grand. She wasted her money. After 9 years of lessons I was still unable to play anything that anyone would want to listen to. I was, however, a whiz at music theory.
 

My sisters took lessons growing up which was pretty common for white upper middle class children. It all came to an end with a reversal of the family's fortunes...
 
We had an old used one in our house when I was little. Later when we moved to where I pretty much grew up, it had to go into the garage. Years later the folks ended up either giving it away or selling it, I'm not sure.

One of my first jobs was working in a pizza parlor that had a piano. I use to plink on it after closing at night. It was fun but my first love has always been the guitar.
 
Grandma always had a piano in her home. Many times, the family would get together and have a sing along. A lot of the songs were WW2 related. Over There, Wing and a Prayer, wait for me Mary, any many more.

Couple of my favorites were:
Yes, we have no bananas
Pistol packing mama
 
We had one in our house, but I never learned to play. They started me on lessons at an early age, but it was clear that I hated practicing, so my parents abandoned the idea. Only my mother knew how to play it. She still has one in her house today.
 
We had a nice console model in our living room.

During WWII Steinway started making glider components, but the gliders were poorly designed and poorly manufactured. In an effort to get the company through the after-effects of the Depression years, Steinway & Sons started making coffins. They also made what became known as the "G.I. Upright" piano and shipped these out to military bases along with instruction manuals and tuning tools.
https://books.google.com/books?id=D...DAD#v=onepage&q=steinway wood coffins&f=false
 
We had an old upright. My grandmother had been a piano teacher and my mother still is an excellent pianist (at 91, she still plays piano in two restaurants, a hospital, a nursing home and a senior citizen's center a few times a month). I had about three years of piano lessons and I CAN play, just not very well. I have an electric keyboard but wish I had room for a real piano.
 
Yes, when I was 6 my parents bought a piano, and I started piano lessons. I continued with them for 6 years, deciding at age 12 that I didn't need them any more, as I could play anything I wanted
by myself. I still play whenever I get a chance, and am in much demand as an accompanist. I am still very grateful that my parents gave me this opportunity.
 
We always had a piano in the living room. If I could have taken a magic pill to learn to play I would have been so happy. A few years of lessons but I never got much beyond Chopsticks. My Dad and oldest son play beautifully. Considering two of my favorite musicians were Elton John, Jan Hammer, even Rick Wakeman... I wanted to be able to play so bad, just too befuddling...
 
My Mother always wanted to play the piano. A great aunt of hers was a concert pianist in Kansas City in the early 1900's. The aunt fell, breaking her wrist and could no longer play. She told my Granddad he could have her piano if he could pay for trucking it to their house from KC. That was a cost of $35 in 1930... a small fortune during hard times. My Granddad scraped up the money and had the piano brought to their home. My Mother ended up learning to play extremely well. She was church pianist and organist for many years. The old piano is an upright, extremely heavy due to the old metal sounding board. It still has all the ivory on the keys. The piano sits right beside my recliner in our living room today. It has gained some nicks and bruises over the years and needs tuned. We have tried to give it away and no one wants an old upright today. So... it will probably sit here holding my library books, magazines, etc. until such time the kids auction off our property when my wife and I are both gone.
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My grandmother had an upright in our fourth floor apartment in the Bronx. I remember them hauling it up with some sort of crane and bringing it in through the window. Mom played, but never by herself. I guess she had lessons. It didn't happen often, but some of the best times were when we had parties and sang songs around the piano. I managed to teach myself a couple of simple tunes by ear like "Heart and Soul" and "Some Day" with a very basic three chord left hand.
 
I remember when the movie "The Sting" came out. My Dad could play a zillion variations on Scott Joplin. My son the same thing, neither can read music but they have a gift for playing...French horn and trumpet too. I got the artist gene but not musical at all.
 
I pestered my Mom and Dad for a piano at a very young age. They bought an old upright. As soon as it was placed in our living room I wouldn't go near it. I think the reason was because my Mom and Dad could play very well. Mom could read music and Dad played by ear, I had the feeling I could never play as well as they did. They encouraged me so they were not to blame but I guess I lacked confidence. I do remember my Dad showing me how to play the beginning of the theme song from the TV show Dragnet,of all things. lol. Maybe he thought if I learned that I might become interested. Years later my daughter wanted a piano which we bought ,she took lessons and did very well. I surprised myself by remembering the Dragnet theme and was able to pick it out, but that's as far as it went.
 
Oh yes! :) Started taking piano lessons at age 6... loved it... Eventually became a music teacher and retired as one... Loved all of it! We had an old Gulbranson upright piano.
 
I recall a place or two we lived we had a piano, my mom played for real, when she wasn't around we kids just played, or should say bang on the ivories. It was sad when we got had to let it go next time we moved.
 
We had an old used player piano in the basement. I spent hours playing rolls on that thing, and picked up reading music using one of those cardboard things you set behind the keys that matches up the notes on the staff with the keys. Finally got a spinet piano and started taking lessons at 13. [My parents wanted to make sure I was really interested first.;)] Quit lessons after 2 years because my teacher insisted on making us participate in a recital every spring. :p But I got pretty good at it---used to like to play Nola, by Felix Arndt. Ha! I've got a keyboard now.
 

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